Austrian minister thanks Turkey for resuming excavations in Ephesus

VIENNA – Anadolu Agency

Foreign Minister Karin Kneissl on May 3 thanked Turkey for allowing Austrian archeologists to resume their excavations in the ancient city of Ephesus in western Turkey.

In posts made on her official Twitter account, Kneissl said she was “delighted” to see the team would be able to resume its “important work” in Ephesus.

“Thank you Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu for this good and concrete result of our first meeting in Istanbul last January,” she said.

Turkey had halted the works of the archeologists, which had been ongoing for more than 100 years in the ancient city, in October 2016 due to the recent tension between the two countries.

The ties between the two countries had soured due to restrictions imposed by Austrian authorities on Turkish politicians who wanted to campaign in the country ahead of a key referendum in Turkey.

Their relations improved when Kneissl paid a visit to Turkey in January this year and the two countries agreed to take some decisions in order to normalize the relations during Cavuşoğlu’s visit to the country in return in March.